Chapter 14
Pulp and Paper Mill Wastewater:
Ecotoxicological Effects and Bioremediation
Approaches for Environmental Safety
Izharul Haq and Abhay Raj
Abstract Pulp and paper industry is one of the important industrial sectors in India,
which consume huge amount of water in the papermaking process. The final
wastewater is often characterized by high color, BOD (biochemical oxygen
demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), AOX (adsorbable organic halides), SS
(suspended solids), TDS (total dissolved solids), phenolics, heavy metals, and plant
components like lignin, tannin, resin acids, and extractives. Finally, these compounds are reached to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem and causing serious environmental pollution. The generated wastewaters are treated by conventional
biological treatment like activated sludge process (ASP) after primary treatment.
Biological treatment of paper mill effluent significantly removes BOD, COD, SS,
and also COD, but it is insufficient in removal of lignin and chlorophenols due to its
low biodegradability and toxicity. During last few decades, several physical and
chemical methods have been developed with the aim to use as pre- and posttreatment
method. However, application of this technology at large scale is costly. Therefore,
bioremediation which involve the use of pollutant-specific microorganism for wastewater treatment has been considered as cost-effective and eco-friendly treatment
method. Thus, this chapter provides the updated information on paper processing
and wastewater generation and their characteristics and toxicity. Processes based on
physicochemical and biological methods for the treatment of pulp and paper mill
wastewater have been also discussed.
Keywords Pulp and paper mills · Environmental pollution · Toxicity · Wastewater
treatment · Bioremediation
I. Haq
Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Environmental Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian
Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam,
India
A. Raj (*)
Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Environmental Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian
Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
e-mail: araj@iitr.res.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_14
333
Pulp and Paper Mill Wastewater:
Ecotoxicological Effects and Bioremediation
Approaches for Environmental Safety
Izharul Haq and Abhay Raj
Abstract Pulp and paper industry is one of the important industrial sectors in India,
which consume huge amount of water in the papermaking process. The final
wastewater is often characterized by high color, BOD (biochemical oxygen
demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), AOX (adsorbable organic halides), SS
(suspended solids), TDS (total dissolved solids), phenolics, heavy metals, and plant
components like lignin, tannin, resin acids, and extractives. Finally, these compounds are reached to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem and causing serious environmental pollution. The generated wastewaters are treated by conventional
biological treatment like activated sludge process (ASP) after primary treatment.
Biological treatment of paper mill effluent significantly removes BOD, COD, SS,
and also COD, but it is insufficient in removal of lignin and chlorophenols due to its
low biodegradability and toxicity. During last few decades, several physical and
chemical methods have been developed with the aim to use as pre- and posttreatment
method. However, application of this technology at large scale is costly. Therefore,
bioremediation which involve the use of pollutant-specific microorganism for wastewater treatment has been considered as cost-effective and eco-friendly treatment
method. Thus, this chapter provides the updated information on paper processing
and wastewater generation and their characteristics and toxicity. Processes based on
physicochemical and biological methods for the treatment of pulp and paper mill
wastewater have been also discussed.
Keywords Pulp and paper mills · Environmental pollution · Toxicity · Wastewater
treatment · Bioremediation
I. Haq
Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Environmental Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian
Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam,
India
A. Raj (*)
Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Environmental Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian
Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
e-mail: araj@iitr.res.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_14
333